Author: Ms. Rose

+ A Roman Catholic laywoman who loves God, the Church and writing. My blog, One Small Rose, includes aspects of the Catholic Faith and my personal reflections. The ultimate purpose of my writing is to serve Jesus through Mary and Joseph and give glory to God +

Jesus is Coming

Ms. Rose2 Comments

Do you know that Jesus is coming soon?

I can imagine your reaction: “Yes, of course I know. Christmas is less than three weeks away!”

I’m not referring to Christ’s birth (well, not yet). I’m referring to His Second Coming. We hear a great deal about this event in Scripture. In the Gospel reading for this past Sunday, the Lord describes what it will be like when He comes again.

“And there will be signs in sun and moon and stars, and upon the earth distress of nations in perplexity at the roaring of the sea and the waves, men fainting with fear and with foreboding of what is coming on the world; for the powers of the heavens will be shaken. And then they will see the Son of man coming in a cloud with power and great glory. Now when these things begin to take place, look up and raise your heads, because your redemption is drawing near” (Luke 21:25-28).

Jesus provides these details because He’s trying to prepare us, not to scare us. He tells us what will take place, but He doesn’t tell us when.

“But of that day or that hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father. Take heed, watch; for you do not know when the time will come” (Mark 13:32-33).

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All Your Heart, Soul, Mind, and Strength

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This past Sunday, the first reading at Mass was from the Book of Deuteronomy. Moses said to the people,

“Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God is one LORD; and you shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your might” (6:4-5).

In the Gospel, we heard Jesus echo the words of Moses. Jesus said,

“The first [commandment] is, ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one; and you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your mind, and with all your strength.’ The second is this, ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no other commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:29-31).

What does it mean to love the Lord with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength?

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Love One Another

Ms. Rose6 Comments

How do we know what love really is when the word is used so casually and its meaning is often distorted and misunderstood?

As always, we must look to God for the truth…

When we see Jesus on the cross, we witness the greatest demonstration of love that will ever take place. When we look at Christ crucified, we discover the true meaning of love: sacrifice.

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Surrender

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Surrender usually refers to defeat and has a negative connotation in society. In Christianity, surrender has an entirely different meaning; and it’s what we’re meant to strive for in our relationship with God!

In my previous post, Waiting…, I emphasized that we’re called to put our lives in the Lord’s hands and trust the plan that He has for each of us; we must genuinely seek God’s will and pray for the grace to accept it. Another word for these actions is surrender.

Our goal as Christians is to allow God to be in charge, trust that He’ll take care of us and not worry about anything.

It may seem that if we give ourselves to Him, we’ll lose something (or everything). That’s a lie that the voices of the world tell us. Jesus tells us the truth:

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